International Energy Agency calls for increased biofuels production to reduce greenhouse gases

Yesterday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released their Tracking Clean Energy Progress report in New Delhi. The report explains that biofuels are playing a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases and in fact, IEA is calling for increased global biofuel production to further GHG reduction.

The IEA’s Climate Change Scenario endeavors to hold global climate change to 2⁰ C by 2022, but notes that we are not on track to obtain that goal. According to IEA, in order to reach the 2020 target the annual biofuels production needs to double and the capacity of advanced biofuels needs to increase six-fold. In order to succeed, IEA states that “this will require dedicated policy support for advanced biofuels and additional government funding for research and production.”

Currently, the United States is among the few regions to provide financial support for advanced biofuels as well as government policies to support such increases. Government policies like the Renewable Fuel Standard are a must to promote not only current production of biofuels but also provide a long-term policy framework to ensure investor confidence and aid in sustained production expansion.

As IEA notes, biofuels are actively reducing emissions from the transportation sector. Increased commitment to the production and expansion of renewable fuels are crucial to helping us mitigate and prevent further damaging impacts of climate change.